Post-election campaign cash flows for Trump, top aides

WASHINGTON (AP) — Even though the election ended months ago, President Donald Trump's campaign continued to rake in money and reward a few top campaign advisers.

New campaign finance filings show Trump and his Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton also got million-dollar reimbursements for travel expenses from the U.S. Secret Service, and in Trump's case, the press.

Reports filed Tuesday with the Federal Election Commission revealed the flow of post-election money during the last few days of November through the end of 2016.

A few highlights:

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TRUMP BUCKS

While Trump and his advisers were preparing to step into the White House, the president's supporters continued to send in checks.

Trump's campaign took in about $1.6 million in direct contributions and another $3.8 million from his joint fundraising committees that were earmarked to cover campaign debt, the filings show.

Overall, Trump's campaign took in $9.6 million during the final weeks of 2016, but a little less than half of that money came from reimbursements by the Secret Service and the press.

Payments for Secret Service travel made up nearly $3 million, and press outlets kicked in another $1.2 million that went toward reimbursing the campaign for private planes. The Trump campaign ended the year with $7.6 million in cash on hand.

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LOYALIST PAYDAY

For some Trump campaign advisers, it paid to stick around.

The campaign spent about $9.6 million during the final weeks of 2016, and some of that went toward big paychecks for longtime loyalists.

Trump aide Dan Scavino earned a $65,000 lump sum payment in December. Scavino directed the campaign social's media operation throughout the election. He has since taken a similar role in the White House.

Longtime Trump spokeswoman Hope Hicks pulled in a little more than $30,000 in December. Hicks has since become the White House director of strategic communications.

And Brad Parscale, the campaign's chief digital strategist, received three $10,000 payments personally. That was on top of the nearly $90 million the campaign paid his company, Giles-Parscale, this election cycle.

Parscale just announced this week that he and other Trump campaign aides are forming a nonprofit group to advocate for the White House agenda through digital and television ads.

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CLINTON CASH

Nothing shuts off the money spigot like a lost election.

During the election, Clinton, the Democratic presidential nominee and former secretary of state, raised more than $581 million, a figure that was nearly twice Trump's haul.

The money dried up quickly after her loss. During the final month of last year, Clinton took in only about $2.5 million — nearly every penny from Secret Service offsets.

The campaign paid about $3 million in bills. Some of her top campaign hands, including press secretary Brian Fallon, collected what appeared to be close to their routine monthly salaries. In Fallon's case that was $5,567. Clinton's close adviser Huma Abedin was paid almost $10,000.

Clinton ended the year with $323,317 in the bank.

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